Coin carrying identification tag



June 13, 1950 T. R. SCHLITZ 2,511,651

com CARRYING IDENTIFICATION TAG Filed Oct. 18, 1946 I RETURN IJOHN 03423239 Ill MAIN 5T. 1 ARCADIA I N VEN TOR.

THOMAS P. SCHL/T Z BY $Mz W,

ATTORNEYS Patented June 13, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a combined identification key ta and coin holder, and more particularly to a plastic holder to be secured to a key ring or the like and adapted to retain a coin.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a coin holder for an identification tag which is to be secured to a key ring or chain to insure the return of any keys when they have been lost or misplaced and have :been found by some unknown party. Ordinarily when a person loses a set of keys, of importance to him only, and oftentimes irreplaceable, he has to depend on the finder to advertise in a newspaper or to advertise himself with the hope that the finder will read the advertisement and return the keys. If a person has his address on a key chain holder, the finder must pay the postage for mailing the keys to the owner, requiring some little time and expense. A great many people would prefer not to go to this trouble and accordingly the owner of the keys would be required to replace them, if possible, thus entailing additional expense and delay. The present invention eliminates this by providing a key chain or ring holder of such construction as to receive an address for the return of the keys and a coin which is easily removable, I

the coin being of such denomination i. e., a silver dollar, as to give a person an incentive to return the lost keys. If a person lost a set of keys utilizing the present invention, the finder would have an address to which to forward the keys and also a coin to reward him for his courtesy and to cover any necessary postage. This address could be the street address of the owner, or it could be the street address of some well-known community project, such as a community paper, bank,

chamber of commerce and the like, the name and address of which would be stamped or printed on the tag. In this latter case, the key tag, in addition to identifying the newspaper oflice, for example, to which the keys are to be returned,

would also contain a serial number, by which the newspaper oifice could identify the owner of the keys and so be able to return them to him.

Another object is to provide an identification and key ring holder of inexpensive construction which may contain advertising matter and could be given away free to the patrons of various concerns, such as gasoline stations, stores, etc.

Other features and details of operation will be apparent from the following more detailed description of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred form of the identification tag, the coin and identification disk being omitted;

(01. iii-1o) Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the ta taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, the coin and identification disk being in place;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of one face of a modified form of the tag;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the reverse face of the tag in .Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the tag in Figs. 4 and 5;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 5;

. Fig. Bis an elevation of another modification of the identification tag;

Fig. 9 is an elevation of the reverse face of the tag in Fig. 8 and Fig. 10 is a vertical section taken on the line Ill-40 of Fig. 9.

Referring now to Fig. 1, wherein the preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, the holder consists of a pair of substantially disk-like, plastic body members 2 and 4. Integrally formed with each of the body members 2 and 4 are complementary projecting ears 6 and 8 which have cooperating openings I0 and I2 therein and adapted to receive the key ring or chain 13. Also integrally formed with body members 2 and 4 on the lower half of their peripheral edges are cooperating segmental shoulders I4 and it which space 2 and 4 apart to define a receptacle or pocket I8 of such size as to accommodate a coin IQ of any denomination and also an identification tag 20. The identification tag 29 may contain instructions and the address for returning the holder or, if preferred, the instruction may be printed directly on the outside then the tag 20 would contain only the owner's address.

The heretofore described elements of the holder are held in close engagement by a set of cooperating pins and sockets 22 and 24 integrally formed with shoulder members I4 and 16 respectively. The pins 22 may be permanently secured within the sockets 24 by any suitable adhesive or may be detachably positioned therein by means of a press fit 01'. the like.

The preferred and desired material of which the holder is to be made is some suitable transparent plastic, such as methylmethacrylate or the like, which can be made by a molding process, preferably by injection molding. It is obvious, since the material is made of plastic,

or inside faces of either body member 2 or 4 and that all the elements of the body members 2 and 4 could be integrally formed directly within the molds; this reduces the cost of making the holder,

and also provides a transparent holder which cannot be broken. Since the holder is made from a transparent plastic, advertising material could be printed directly on the face of the holder or else, it could be inserted in the receptacle of the holder.

As shown in Fig. 3, the holder would contain the coin and identification tag 19 and 20 within receptacle I8 defined by the two shoulder members 22 and 24, the coin and tag being held in place by the body members 2 and 4 and also by the key ring [3. To obtain the coin and tag, the key ring l3 would be unlocked, thereby permitting the coin and tag to be easily withdrawn.

Referring now to Figs. 4 through '7, wherein a modified form of the invention is illustrated, the holder consists of two complementary disk-like plastic body members. Member 28 is in one piece and the other is in two parts 29 and 39. Projecting ears 3| and 32 are .provided with registeringopening 33 for receiving a key ring l3. The two halves 2'9 and 30- are detachably secured to one another by pins 3! and registering sockets 38. Integrally formed around the peripheral edges of body member 28 and the segments 29 and 30 are a pair of curved shoulders 39 and 49 which, when in contact, form with the bodymembers 29 and 3!], a compartment 3! of such size as to receive a coin I9 and/or an identification tag 20, although in the present case, the identification tag 20 may be eliminated since all necessary information may be printed on the outside face of one of the body members 28', 29- and 39. Positioned on the shoulder members 40 of the lower half 39 is a set of laterally projecting pins 4!, preferably integral therewith positioned to register with a set of sockets 42 in the lower half of shoulder 39. It is preferred, in this modified form, that pins M be permanently secured in sockets '42. With this modified form, the coin I9 would be positioned completely within the compartment 2!; to remove the coin, the key ring i=3 would be opened; this makes it possible to remove upper half 29' and so to remove the coin. The finder could then follow the printed instructions and the owner would receive his keys.

' In another modification shown in Figs. 8 through 1'0, the holder consists of disk-like, complementary body members 49 and 48 which have integrally formed therewith cooperati-ng projecting ears 5B and 52, having registering opening 54 for a key ring or chain 13. The body member 48 is divided along a horizontal line into upper and lower halves-58 and 60. The divided halves 58 and 60 are detachably united to -one another by a dovetail joint 62 positioned ing sockets in shoulders 66 of halves 58 and 60. Lower half 60 is permanently secured to 46 as by cement; upper half 58 is removable by a lateral pull so that the coin and identification tag can be removed.

lhe finder unlocks ring l3, removes upper half 58 of the holder, removes the coin, keeps it as his reward then returns the key by mail to the owner. I

With all forms of the invention, and as is evident particularly from Figs. 4 and 5, the finder, after removing the coin, could simply apply a stamp to one face of the holder, such as that shown in Fig. 5, drop it in the mail box and the keys would be delivered to the address shown on the other side, as in Fig. 4.

With all forms of the invention, the name and address of the owner could be on identification disk 20, or marked on the outside of the holder. Both the disk 20 and the marking could be used.

While the invention has been described in some detail, it is-to be understood that it is not limited totlie use of the exact details shown, but may be carried out in other ways.

I claim as my invention: 1

A coin carrying identification tag comprising a pair of coextensive, substantially circular, transparent disk-like members spaced apart by integral opposing peripheral shoulder members extending substantially one half the periphery of said disk-like members, cooperating pin and socket elements positioned on said shoulder members for detachably joining them together to define a coin receiving pocket having a closed portion and a," mouth portion, said mouth portion being of a size capable of passing a predetermined sized -coin into and out of the pocket, apertured opposing coextensive ears on each of said disk members positioned substantially centrally of said mouth portion, an insert member extending through saidapertures to thereby constrict said mouth ortion whereby said coin is retained within said mouth portion, and indicia carried by said tag whereby the address of the owner may be ascertained.

THOMAS R. SCI-HJTZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the, file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain June 7, 1934 

